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Folks,

I have a ice cream on the Walkway over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY. The NYS Park Department provides power: “30AMP 240V” they say. I am running a Taylor c722 softserve machine. It’s happy place is 220v.

The voltage at the outlet is in fact 250v and is wreaking havoc on the electrical components of the machine.

The NYS Park is unwilling to modulate the voltage down at their transformer.

Is there a piece of equipment that I can use to bring down the shore power from 250 to 220v?

UPDATE

This is a single phase machine. There are two beater motors that beat the products into ice cream. The machine was working as expected at our brick and mortar shop. We then moved it to the trailer and plugged into Park power. At that time, the right side motor would make a loud buzzing sound. I took the panels off, and saw the motor struggling to start - basically nudging but not going anywhere. The motor moves freely by hand. The left side of the machine produces ice cream, as expected.

We replaced the right side contactor under advice of the tech that sold us the machine. The contactor was not demonstrating the continuity he was expecting between the various circuits. We fired up the machine with new contactor and same issue.

The tech then sent me a new motor to install. I started looking through the machine faults and noticed a fault that I didn't recognize. I sent to the tech and he ask if there were were power failures, which there have been - i will get to that in a moment. At that point, he asked me to measure the voltage which was 250V at the outlet. He told me that explains a lot and that he could not warranty the machine if the incoming volts are 250V. I asked him what would be ideal and he said 220V.

On the trailer wiring - i have the park power (30A/240V) coming into a breaker panel. There are three breakers in the panel: a main 30A breaker, a 25Amp breaker for the machine, and 15AMP breaker for the rest of the trailer (chest freezer, espresso, blender)

The 15AMP circuit is wired to a automatic switch so that if we overload the circuit, i can isolate the soft serve machine to the park power, and fire up the generator and power the other appliances.

My logic, is that if the machine needs more power it would trip the 25A breaker, but it never has. The rest of the trailer will overload the 15A breaker and we have had to switch to the generator when it's hot. With the machine isolated on the 25A circuit and the others off, the problem persists. When we are testing the machine, the working side is turned off.

I've ordered this step down transformer which I hope will smooth out the power.

How it possible that one side is working and the other isn't, but both were tested on house power. Leads me to believe that something's in the power at the park that that side of the machine... but not the other?

I hope this additional information is helpful.

Best,

PPP

Fault Code

Philippe Pierre
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    ... a transformer, step-down type – Andy aka Jun 01 '23 at 18:50
  • You may wish to consider a power conditioner. These are pricey though. e.g. https://furmanpower.com/product/30a-voltage-regulator-power-conditioner-220v-240v-export/ – mr_js Jun 01 '23 at 18:53
  • A buck transformer would be what you need. It's nothing special, just a low voltage transformer connected in a certain way so it bucks=reduces the voltage. A boost transformer would be the same thing just one winding reversed so it would be boosting=increasing the voltage. – Kuba hasn't forgotten Monica Jun 01 '23 at 19:08
  • The USA does not use 220v power, so unless you imported this device from Europe I'm skeptical it needs 220v power. Have you checked with the manufacturer? – user1850479 Jun 01 '23 at 19:17
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    Are you certain that the machine is working correctly from 220V? Have you tried it? Where did you get that 220V from? – Kuba hasn't forgotten Monica Jun 01 '23 at 19:22
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    Spec says 3 Phase, 208-230 Volt. – StainlessSteelRat Jun 01 '23 at 19:25
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    @StainlessSteelRat: Wow.... wonder what sequence of cables and adapters was cobbled together to attach 3-phase equipment to a single phase supply – Ben Voigt Jun 01 '23 at 19:26
  • According to the manufacturers spec sheet it's available as 230 V 23 A single phase OR 400 V 9 A three phase. But both expect 50 Hz. Maybe there are US versions too. – Finbarr Jun 01 '23 at 21:22
  • Ah, yes, there are US versions too. The single phase version needs 29 A. – Finbarr Jun 01 '23 at 21:26
  • You say the parks dept. provides 30A but the spec sheet shows left and right sides one at 29A and one at 25A, are you just running one side? – GodJihyo Jun 02 '23 at 00:49
  • The 220V comment was from the tech. When i asked him was the sweet spot would be? He didn't like 250V coming into the machine and said he wasn't sure he could warranty the machine with incoming voltage at that rate. I've uploaded the plate - calls for 208-230V – Philippe Pierre Jun 02 '23 at 21:47
  • @GodJihyo I think each side gets 120V from each leg of the 240V – Philippe Pierre Jun 02 '23 at 21:50
  • It sounds like the tech you talked to is confused about power in the USA. I would try to find someone more familiar with your equipment who could diagnose the actual problem. – user1850479 Jun 02 '23 at 22:18
  • The transformer you purchased is rated 50 VA, which is about 4A@12V or 2A@24V. Your machine needs about 30A, so you need a buck transformer at least about 360 VA, or 30A@12V or 15A@24V. Even better would be 720 VA, to get 30A @226V from 250V. – PStechPaul Jun 02 '23 at 23:22
  • Assuming that the machine is connected with 240 VAC "split phase" wiring, that means there are two 120-VAC phases (typically a red and black wire, with 240VAC between them) with respect to neutral (typically a white wire). Probably a good idea to check that the phases are balanced with respect to neutral. Easy enough to do: measure between red and black (you've done that, I believe, and got 250 VAC), then measure from red to white, then black to white, and these two measurements should be equal (within a few volts, usually). If they're off, that's a problem. – Just_visiting Jun 02 '23 at 23:53
  • @Just_visiting thanks for that troubleshooting advise. It sparked a memory. You’re right - there are 3 prongs to the plugs. When I tested, I read 250v, and then about half (125v) when I did the other side. I believe I tried the other combination as well, but I didn’t get a reading. I used the pull out method - I pulled the plug just enough so I could slide the probe between the outlet and the prong. The probe wasted get a reading when I went into the plug. I will take apart the outlet and test properly. – Philippe Pierre Jun 03 '23 at 10:33

1 Answers1

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Welcome!

I'm no expert on US grid code so this isn't an answer to your question, more of a glorified comment, but +-5 % floats around on the internet from what I can find and 250 V is just 4.16 % overvoltage so should be within spec. If you really need 220 V, what you need is an autotransformer with 250 and 220 V taps, or if it's allowed, a buck transformer. At 30 A, the autotransformer will be heavy and expensive. A 240:30 V at 30 A transformer used in buck configuration will be manageable but not pocket-sized by any means.

Here is a buck transformer circuit diagram: enter image description here Image borrowed from https://electricalacademia.com/transformer/buck-boost-transformer-working-principle/

Addendum: Your comment about it being a 208-230 V three phase machine completely invalidates my answer. I've used professional three phase appliances (an espresso machine) on single phase myself, but that was an easy one as the motor ran on 230 V and the heater 400 V delta (so I just cheated with one of the heater phases connected to neutral and ran it on lower than rated power). If your ice cream machine has a true three phase motor somewhere, I'm amazed you even got it running without burning up on single phase. You need to post a schematic of your machine for us to be able to help you. Granted, three buck transformers would be able to take down 250 V three phase to 220 V three phase, but making three phase from a single phase is not possible without either a rotary converter, an inverter or possibly some awful transformer+capacitor+inductor hack to create 120 degree phasors. Let's not go there.

Manual was less than helpful. "(For exact electrical information, always refer to the data label of the unit.)". We need this information.

Anyhow, US producers love single phase motors, and if you open yours and it looks something like this with two large "ears" sticking out, it's single phase with run capacitor. Best case for you, they all are and the manufacturer just preferred to split each fan motor and compressor motor across several phases and gave it a three-phase connection. If this is the case, you should be able to run it at 240 V single phase. enter image description here Image stolen from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGNm9og1B0

winny
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    Your comment about the voltage being within spec is true. I suspect the OP is dealing with gremlins in his machine, that even though the city is under no obligation to modify the voltage, the higher-end voltage level is causing some issue. Unfortunately, the onus is on the OP to sort it out. It's OK to try a transformer (no harm/ no foul), but I'd put my money on a failing creamee machine, or questionable trailer wiring. – Chris Knudsen Jun 01 '23 at 19:06
  • @ChrisKnudsen If this would have been in the EU, it would have been my go-to point, but I'm not knowledgeable about the US 110, 115, 120, 208, 220, 240, 288, 480 V situation to be able to say for sure. But an XY problem on EE would not be the first by any mean. – winny Jun 01 '23 at 19:32
  • It's my understanding that, in general, single-phase devices need to accept the nominal (nameplate) voltages +/-10%. So, you can clump all of 110-120 V ranges together (they are always single phase). You can also clump together all 208-240 V single phase devices. However, service for 208 V and up also can be provided as 3-phase (sometimes with a neutral). I am not familiar with all of the common 3-phase devices out there, and their possible intricacies, so I'll leave that up to someone else. I would, however, expect that the +/-10% nameplate voltage variations would still be acceptable. – Chris Knudsen Jun 01 '23 at 20:46
  • @ChrisKnudsen Yes, and US may differ here. If it would have been in Europe, any range specified, for example 220-240 V implies +-6 %. A fixed value, for example 230 V implies +-10 %. I don't know how the rules work on the other side of the pond. – winny Jun 01 '23 at 20:51
  • Considering that the OP is connecting to a North-American 240V "Split-phase" supply, it actually effectively has two 120V phases with a neutral in the middle. If the machine uses that neutral then a single transformer may not work very well if the current drawn from the phases is not equal. – brhans Jun 02 '23 at 00:37
  • "Considering that the OP is connecting to a North-American 240V "Split-phase" supply, it actually effectively has two 120V phases with a neutral in the middle." **Sometimes. Sometimes, no neutral is provided. Very common for electric dryer and range services (in my area of NA). – Chris Knudsen Jun 02 '23 at 16:32
  • Thanks guys - this great! – Philippe Pierre Jun 02 '23 at 21:10